New devices with old hardware?
Apple might keep older chips around for longer in future devices, if a number of leaks and rumours are to be believed. That could break with the company’s usual strategy of upgrading its devices’ chips with each product update, and could potentially mean less exciting performance from your new devices.
One of the products potentially affected is the MacBook Air. While many experts expect the next version to be outfitted with the upcoming M2 chip, well-known Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo believes it could instead come with an M1 chip (or a modified version of the M1, perhaps with more cores).
Similarly, the iPhone 14 and rumoured iPhone 14 Max could have the same A15 Bionic chip as the one used in the iPhone 13, according to Kuo. The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max, meanwhile, would get the new A16 Bionic.
It’s not clear if this is a decision from Apple to slow down updates or simply a response to the ongoing global chip shortage.